


Among the Dead

by kijikun



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Apocalypse, Dark, F/M, Silent Hill - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-14
Updated: 2011-05-14
Packaged: 2017-10-19 09:13:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/199246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kijikun/pseuds/kijikun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo wakes is the ruins of store she died in. Only she doesn't know this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Among the Dead

**Author's Note:**

> Note if games like Silent Hill bother you, this fic is not for you. Jo/Lucifer if you squint.
> 
> Beta: Jenab

Jo wakes.

She wakes to darkness, choking and shaking. She hurts like she'd clawed her way out of a thicket of thorns. Her stomach and chest burn. A flash of teeth, the scent of sulfur flash across her senses for a brief moment but she can't place the memory.

Slowly her body starts obeying her and she can work out solid real things. The hard cold concrete floor under her as she lies on her side. There's a chilled wind blowing across her skin and she smells rain. Jo strains to hear any sounds of life, of movement. But there's only the soft patter of rain beyond where she is lays.

Her father's knife is still sheathed behind her back. The other knife is still in her boot.

Cautiously she opens her eyelids just a slit and takes stock. She's in a half blown out building that looks like it was once a store. The light looks -- weird. It isn't just the dull gray of a rainy day but a hanging mist that's way too Silent Hill like for her liking. At least she's starting with better a better weapon than in Silent Hill 2. Though a plank with a nail at the end had better range. She can't help the small sound of amusement at herself.

Ash would be proud.

That's when she hears it, the soft scrape of boots against gravel.

Jo holds herself still, tries to pin point the location of the boots, tries to work out if she'll have enough time to go for either of her knives. The foot steps stop.

Then....nothing.

Just the sound of breathing.

She doesn't move and neither does the source of the footsteps. It goes on for long minutes before there's another sound like someone sliding down a wall. That's when Jo finally opens her eyes fully.

Across from her sits a man. Jo slowly pushes herself up, hand sliding to the small of her back. The man doesn't move, he's curled around his knees, face hidden. He looks normal enough, dressed boots, jeans, and a green shirt. Jo can see some old burns on the side of his neck.

He doesn't look like a threat but Jo knows that doesn't mean anything. She keeps her hand on her knife as she gets to her feet.

"Hey," she says. She isn't going to ask if he's okay or anything else. She's not going to give any opening if this is a monster in human skin.

The man raises his head and she can see more burns across one cheek bone almost forming a spotty line down to his neck. He doesn't say anything, just looks at her. He looks at her like she's some strange new creature, like he doesn't know how to answer.

"Hey," Jo says again. "You wounded?"

She doesn't know where they are -- they last thing she remembers is a salt and burn close to the New Mexico border -- but wounds and blood could attract _something_.

He shakes his head. "No. I do not believe I am injured," he sounds uncertain as if confused by the question.

 _Okay_. No one she knew talked like that expect maybe her second grade teacher. Or well --

Castiel.

But this isn't Castiel.

She thinks.

"Do you know where we are or what happened here?" Jo asks.

He shakes his head again. "I awoke just outside this building. It was -- wet. I disliked it." He tilts his head. "I believe a -- battle occurred here. There are bodies outside."

Jo nods and swallows hard. Okay, this wasn't getting any better. No clue where she was -- check. Strange weather and or fog -- check. Not quite _right_ attractive (burns aside -- they just made him more -- intriguing) stranger -- check.

Yeah, she's in a Silent Hill game. All it needs is some slow moving not!zombies and a creepy hospital.

"Are you injured, Joanna?" the man asks. His eyes look her over as if he could see some hidden wound.

Fear swelled in her chest. "How the hell do you know my name?" she demands.

He looks confused again. "I am unsure."

Jo didn't want to dwell on the messed up fact that she believed him. "Well you know my name, so what's yours?"

He tilts his head slowly to the side and frowns as if he's trying to remember. "Heylel. I believe my name is Heylel."

It sounds like a angel name and he kind of reminds her of Castiel but -- "Okay, Heylel, nice to meet you."

Heylel tilts his head to the side again.

She takes another deep breath and strays towards the gaping hole. There's a body, bloody and half eaten just in view. A chill runs up her spine. She can't put her finger on it, can't put the feeling of _wrong_ into words. Jo just knows that she doesn't want to be here much longer. That being here when night falls.

"Okay, Heylel, here's the deal. We need to look for anything usable in what's left of this store then find a car or truck that still works and get out of here." She peers out into the mist. "I don't think we want to be here when night hits."

Heylel looks the same direction she is before climbing to his feet. He's taller than her but not like Sam. "I agree. We should be gone from this place as quickly as possible."

"Do you always talk like this?"

He does the head tilt thing again, his forehead wrinkling. "Is there something wrong with how I speak?"

She sighs and shakes her head, then starts to ransack the fallen shelves for anything they can use -- canned food, ponchos, flares, anything. After a moment he joins her and they being to amass a pile in the spot where Jo had woken up.

Heylel keeps trying to add things like Christmas tinsel, cotton balls (which okay are a bit useful), and shiny or colorful things. She reminded of a magpie. When she tells him this, he just looks even more confused and a bit crestfallen. So Jo sighs and tells him things to look for.

When he pulls a collection of supplies free part of what must have been the first aid aisle, she decides his attraction to shinny, soft, and colorful things might just be a plus.

"Would this be of use, Joanna?" he asks after a short while, Jo's sure it's only been a few minutes. She needs to be fast about this and the sooner she found a car or something and put this place behind her she'd be happy. It's this feeling in her gut that she's learned to trust that urges her _faster, faster_.

She looks over her shoulder and he's holding a bright red laundry bag. "That would be _very_ useful."

Heylel smiles and she has the odd sensation of warm sunlight even though the mist was making her shiver. "I am glad."

That's when she realizes she'll _have_ to take him with her. She can't just leave him. Angel or not, she can't just leave someone behind. You don't leave people behind. Not ever. "Let's load up the supplies in the bag and get the hell out of here while we can."

He flinches noticeable when she says "hell" but seems confused at the same time like he can't understand his body's reaction. "This body moves on its own," he says sounding like a small petulant child.

"Yeah, they do that," she mutters without venom.

Heylel doesn't speak after that but he helps her load the small collection of supplies they'd scavenged. It's not a lot but Jo's hoping they won't need half of it. That they'll get to the next town and things will be normal -- or as normal as things get during the apocalypse. Then she'll find Dean, Sam, and their angel stalkers and pass Heylel off on them.

He shadows her as they walk out into the rain. There's very little visibility and it seems like the mist floods in behind them. Jo clutches her knife and stays alert. If she didn't know better she'd say the mist had a life of its own -- or a mind at least -- but shit it could. She frowns trying to remember if Bobby or any other hunter every talked about something like this.

Finally she see's a dark shape that looks like a SUV and turns her head toward Heylel. "I think we found our rid--"

Heylel isn't there. When she looks back towards the shape she can barely see it, the mist -- fog is pressing thick around her. Her breathe sounds so loud to her ears.

She knows better than to call out, so she keeps moving forward towards the shape. The fog starts to thin the closer she gets to the vehicle. A Land Rover -- oh well at least it's got four wheel drive. The doors are all open as if the passengers had fled in a hurray -- _or were pulled out_ the hunter part of her mind says. "Either way, the keys might still be it."

She can see other cars in the road now, most of them with doors hanging open. Some still have their lights on. Some have bodies in them.

Parts of bodies. Some look whole as if the person had just fallen asleep. Others are savaged, torn, barely recognizable as human.

The Land Rover looks thankfully empty.

When Jo's close enough to touch the side of the SUV she looks back again. The fog is just about gone and Heylel kneels with his hands palm up resting on his knees. The red bag is sitting beside him.

"Heylel," she calls. "Come on."

He opens his eyes and looks at her unblinkingly. "My apologies, Joanna." He gracefully rises to his feet and picks up the bag. "It took longer than I had accounted, I have -- forgotten things."

Jo stares back, because _what the hell_? Was this just an angel thing? "That's great. Can we go now?"

"If you wish," Heylel tells her, moving towards the SUV.

"I do wish." It comes out sharper than she meant but she wants to get to the next town. She wants to call her mom or Bobby or someone and figure out what the hell happened her and why was she in the middle of it. She doesn't have her phone, she's not sure when she realized this, but her cell is gone and she's not rummaging through dead bodies for one. Mostly because she has the sinking feeling that none of them would work.

Heylel suddenly stops dead and bends down. Jo almost snaps at him again, because she doesn't have to take him along. He's a damn angel or something, when he straightens holding a blood stained white rabbit.

"There were children." The anguish in his voice is almost overpowering. As if that was worse than anything and -- and -- God it was worse than anything. She hates when it's children. Hates it more than anything.

It's why she keeps hunting so she can protect all the other children and keep them from having their fathers never come home. "It didn't spare anyone."

Heylel is quiet and she found herself drawing closer to him. She'd heard from Dean that most angels were assholes -- not caring anything about humanity but Heylel -- Heylel cares. Broken and lost as he seems to her, he still cared.

"They spared neither old nor young, neither the pregnant nor babes in arms," he says to the rabbit in his hands. "You are with my Father little one, your pain is over."

Jo bites her lip and has to turn her head from him. It's then she spots the two car seats in the back of the SUV, it's then she hears a sound she _knows_. She doesn't know how she knows or why she knows that sound means them but -- "Shit, hellhounds. Heylel get in the car."

She grabs the bag and flings it into the back slamming the door shut as she does. When she climbs into the drivers seat she finds that _thank God_ the keys are in the ignition. The sound gets louder and fear shudders up her spine. It's like she knows what the bite, what the tearing will feel like.

"Heylel! They're almost here."

He still just stands there.

"Heylel, get in the car damnit!" she yells at him. She should leave him. She could leave him. He's an angel. He can handle some hellhounds. "Please!"

Heylel snaps out whatever trance or space out he'd been doing. "They will harm you. We must go."

Jo makes soft shriek of frustration. "That's what I was _saying_."

The moment he's in and all the doors are closed, she revs the engine and peels out down the road. Jo swerves around the abandoned vehicles and tries not to think about what she's running over. "I do not like vehicles I believe," Heylel tells her earnestly.

She almost laughs as she glances in the rear view mirror. There are dark shapes, almost dog like behind them, gaining. Jo puts her foot down harder on the pedal and --

 _Oh God, oh God_. There's a tiny bloody body in one of the car seats.

Jo forces her eyes back on the road and drives through a ditch to get around several cars. A cheerful sign thanks them for visiting and hopes they're come back soon.

"Curious," Heylel comments. Like there isn't a body of a child in the back seat, like there aren't hellhound at their heels. Like there isn't smeared dried blood on the instrument panel.

"You've got a sick idea of curious," she grits out.

"The hellhounds were tied with a limited regional field of range." Oh yeah, Sam speak. Heylel cocks his head towards her. "You should fasten your seat belt."

Jo grips the steering wheel tighter. "So should you."

"I can assist you," he offers reaches across her chest.

"Hey, hey! You don't just reach across a woman's chest. Especially not when she's driving!" Jo half yells, because she does _not_ want to crash because the angel over there did some unintentional groping.

He withdraws his hand. "Oh, I see. Is there a proper time in which to reach across a female's chest?"

"I am not having this conversation right now. In fact I'm going to pretend for the next ten minutes that this is a bad dream and I'm going to wake up next to Chris Pine," Jo mutters, trying not to grin her teeth.

There's a short silence. "You wish to sleep with a form of Pine tree, Joanna?"

She keeps her eyes on the road and doesn't answer him. Because that ten minutes as _so_ started.

In the end Jo only makes it five minutes when she looks in the rear view mirror and see's the small body again. It's that, and not the lack of cars on the road, that scream this is not all a nightmare. She can't stop looking back at it.

"Oh fuck," she hisses and half runs them into a ditch as she tries to stop. Jo almost falls out of the SUV and does something she hasn't done in forever -- not since her second real hunt.

She drops to her knees and vomits. She vomits until there's nothing but stomach acid but she can't stop retching.

Hot fingers brush against her neck, holding her hair out of the way. A hand stokes down her spine.

"Sorry," she gasps out when she as the breath for it. Her mouth feels gross, she feels gross. But she's not wasting the few bottles of water they found.

The hand strokes her back again, lingering between her shoulder blades. "This is not weakness, Joanna."

Jo hiccups a laugh. "Will you stop calling me that."

"If you wish." She can almost hear the smile in his voice.

"Just give me a moment okay?" she tells him as she gets to her feet and leans heavily against the side of the vehicle.

Heylel tilts his head to the side. "You may have all the time you wish."

"Thanks." She closes her eyes wanting to blot out the grayed hazy sun. It's sunny but muted.

There are sounds behind her and by the time she turns to look, Heylel has removed the car seats. He's gently carrying the tiny body to a patch of clover and tucks the rabbit against it's chest. She watches almost mesmerized as he puts dandelions over the body then small stones.

Jo pushes her way from the SUV and walks to where he's kneeling. Heylel makes a gesture over the body -- it's a little girl, maybe two -- and whispers something low and impossible. A breeze rustles through the still trees. After a moment Jo walks over to a small tree and snaps off two branches, she uses some of the longer grass to loosely tie them together in a cross and pushes it into the ground above the body's head.

"Rest in peace," she whispers, standing by Heylel again.

Neither of them speak. When he finally stands he brushes the back of his hand against hers. Almost as if it's a signal, Jo makes her way back to the SUV.

As they pull back onto the emtpy road, Jo glances back in the rear view mirror. "At least she's where its green."

Heylel is looking straight ahead as he tells her, "She liked dandelions."

"So do I," Jo whispers. She doesn't look back again.

They reach the next town three hours later.

Or what had been a town.

Jo stares at the welcome sign and the flattened town beyond.

"Turning the cities into ashes, condemning them to destruction," Heylel speaks, his words almost unreal. "This cannot be the workings of my Father's Word and Will."

"I don't think it is."

Jo whispers a silent _sorry_ to the dead.

Ash billows around them as they drive on.


End file.
